This class provides an automated homework testing environment called Stepic, which is inspired by our Rosalind project aimed at learning bioinformatics through programming. You can find the first two weeks of material on Stepic and on our class homepage in the form of video lectures. Note: you must sync your Coursera account with Stepic in order to receive credit for your assignments. To do so, please see the Important Course Details page.

We want the class to be fun for everyone, and so in addition to our core content, we have some optional features that we want you to check out:

1. Five Massive Open Research Projects (MOORs) with leading bioinformaticians launch today! You only need to watch the first lecture to start working on these projects. Join the research party at https://research.stepic.org. The goal of each project is to produce a research paper co-authored by YOU!

2. We will hold online office hours as well as in-person office hours around the world. Our first in-person office hours are scheduled for November 12 in San Diego (USA) and St. Petersburg (Russia). You can sign up on our discussion forums.

3. We will soon announce a Student Presentation competition. We want you to research a topic that builds on the course material and record a 5-6 minute segment on it. You will get to help us choose the best videos, and there will be prizes for the winners. More details to follow soon.

4. A “Bioinformatics Cartoon” series drawn by our visiting artist, Randall Christopher. The cartoon for the first chapter of our textbook is at the bottom of this announcement. How many “hidden messages” can you find?

Thank you for being patient during our two-week delay. We are excited that the class is beginning and hope that you are too!